


Dreams

by Sinner_bro



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Betrayal, Fights, Friendship, Hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 13:40:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18812035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinner_bro/pseuds/Sinner_bro
Summary: After a fight Luffy does something reckless to protect everyone causing him several injuries. Zoro is not having it this time and they get into an argument.





	Dreams

The sound of the breeze and the waves breaking, was usually something that soothed them, the entire crew would just sit quietly at night, stargazing tiredly while listening to the waves… but not this time, the waves did nothing to repair the line they had crossed, the happiness they broke in an instant. 

The trust they had built, the bond, the friendship… the love... all of it broken, not gone… but utterly destroyed. All because of a fight, all because of a dream he no longer held as his first priority. All because of the frustration, the scratch in his pride when he realized what Luffy was doing, and that he could do nothing to stop him.

The crew was staring at Luffy and Zoro, both silent. Zoro was panting, veins pooped out of his forehead, neck and arms, eyebrows furrowed, his face was hot as a tomato, his knuckles were white from the pressure, but worst of all… was the despair, anger, confusion…regret, in his eyes. His standing position did nothing in his favor, feet in front of one another, torso slightly to the front, his grip in one of his swords… fighting position.

Luffy, however, looked calm, almost too calm. One hand in his pocket, the other gripping his hat loosely, his feet were slightly apart, his eyes held absolutely no emotion as he made direct eye contact with his first mate… his first friend. This state was unfamiliar to the crew, who were used to seeing luffy expressing his emotions clearly. His body held many bandaged injuries. The fact that he was standing was incomprehensible to chopper. 

“C- C’mon guys, this- we can work this out together, I’m sure Zoro didn’t mean tha-” Ussop was stopped by Sanji’s grip on his shoulder, Sanji looked just as serene as Luffy, but the sight of him this way meant that it was not their time to intervene, his eyes held unspoken words. Luffy’s eyes said nothing. 

Zoro tried compose himself, his chest was tight with hurt and anger, his eyes threatened him with tears, but did not allow one of them to be recognized. “Are you going to keep quiet?” he quietly whispered after stabilizing his breathing. He waited for a reaction that never came, since Luffy just turned his gaze to the sea. 

“SAY SOMETHING DAMMIT” Nami and Chopper flinched. He felt his chest rising up and down quickly while the tightening feeling became stronger. The only reaction he got from the captain was the empty eye contact they held before. For the rest of the crew that emotionless gaze might mean shock, anger, or that it held no meaning, but Zoro knew. He knew how to read him, he knew Luffy, he knew that meant he was broke. The sight brought a knot into his throat.

“You want to know how he died?” they all tensed up. Luffy did not say his brother’s name, but they all knew. He hadn’t addressed Ace’s death at all before. “I passed throughout an entire prison, almost died of poison, saw comrades die, released infamous prisoners and enemies… all to save him. Only to find out he had already been transported out of there.  
“We went as quick as we could, he was my brother… I knew he wouldn’t want me to butt into his business, but I went anyways.” 

“We arrived, he was at the end of everything, at the end of that magnificent sight of soldiers. At the end of the war. He looked at me, even tho his eyes told me not to get near him, I couldn’t leave him there… chained… powerless. He belonged to the sea, he was supposed to see me achieve my dream, he told me he would-” his voice cracked and for a moment he paused to breath, none of them dared to interrupt him. 

“Luffy you don’t have to-” Jumpei tried to help the situation after a whole minute of silence, only to be silenced by Luffy’s serene gaze, which returned to Zoro after a second.

“Me and my friends approached with all we could, I screamed at his old man, fought Coby, my friend, I even fought my own gramps… but I did it, I reached him.”- he smiled a little at the memory- “I freed him, we hugged, his own heritage was already exposed… but all that mattered was getting him out of there, we were brothers no matter our blood.”

“We fought side by side like in the past, we destroyed anyone that came toward us. We had almost made it… until Akainu came for me. I got distracted for less than a second, and what was supposed to be me saving Ace, became the opposite. He pushed me, ME, to the side and received the blow. His last words… I hear them every night before I go to sleep.”- Tears were falling down his cheeks, but he didn’t bother to wipe them.- “His body fell on top of me, and all I could do was watch… I don’t remember anything else of the war. Jumpei helped me cope.” 

They all stared at him, they all knew that Luffy had put his greatest efforts into saving his brother and couldn’t, but they didn’t know the details, they couldn’t have imagined the extent of the horrifying experience Luffy went through. They were all crying, some tried to hide it, some made an effort to be heard. But Luffy’s tears had dried and Zoro was just staring as his captain. 

“So Zoro, maybe you’re right, maybe its because of my weakness that my brother died. Maybe its my fault. Maybe I was supposed to die that day.” Zoro jaw and fists clenched, when he poured his guts in the heat of the moment he didn’t mean any of it. He imagined all scenarios in his head in which Luffy would finally tell them what really happened that day, this was not one of the options.

“But I lived. My brother died for me, and all I can do in return is live, achieve my fucking dream, and more importantly, protect the people I love so I don’t have to suffer that way again. So my decision to protect this ship with my body, is also part of my dream. I’m not giving up my dream, but I will not achieve anything by loosing you. I don’t want to achieve anything, if the price to obtain it is your lives.  
“But if you believe, my actions… my dream, threatens your own, then you are free you go. After all, I did promise not to do anything that could endanger your dream or life.”

The whole crew was schocked, they all knew the consequences would be grave when Zoro finished ranting. They all understood how wrong, how imbecile and wrong Zoro was when he uttered those words, when he screamed of cowardice, when out of anger he even dared to blame Luffy on Ace’s death... They comprehended how hurt Luffy was after his first mate spat on his dream… on their own friendship, out of what? Spite? Worry?  
It was news to them that Luffy and Zoro had such an agreement, but were much surprised of Zoro using that agreement to win in an argument, but now? It black fired.

“You can call me a coward, a weakling, an idiot… you can blame people’s death on me, but I will not take the blame if your dream doesn’t come true, why? Because I’m giving you the choice right now to walk away. To leave me and the crew behind to achieve your dream if it is what you want.”

Zoro breathed deeply, all eyes were on him. Nobody wanted him to go, but they wouldn’t stop him. They would mourn him like the dead, but not move a muscle to make him stay if he chose to go. “Do you have that little amount of trust in me?”- He finally could mouth something worthy of his true feelings.- “Sacrifice yourself for us because we are part of your dream? Fuck off! WE ARE SUPPOSED TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE IT… to be beside you when you are hurt, not behind you.”

“Do you think that after all we’ve been through, that I would leave to accomplish a dream without the straw hats? Without you? I want you to share my dream with me or it isn’t worth it. If you die… my dream would be nothing. The whole purpose of my fucking shit dream is to be able to finally protect the people I love, to be able to stand side by side and go against the whole world.”

He approached Luffy, now with confidence and stopped right in front of him, few inches separating them. “You are also part of my dream, hell- YOU GUYS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY MOMTHERFUCKING DREAM. If I don’t accomplish my dream, but instead stand by you, with trust and love as always, then I’m more than happy to leave it. But I will not leave my dream behind for you to die before me. Fuck, for you to die because of me.”

He closed the inches left and brought Luffy into a tight embrace, and cried. For the first time since this all happened, Zoro allowed the tears that had swelled in his eyes to drop, the knot in his throat to lessen in sobs, and the tightness in his chest to be replaced by Luffy’s warmth… and almost didn’t noticed Luffy hugging him back, crying his soul as well. After a minute the rest of the crying crew joined them in the embrace.

Zoro had said many things he would always regret. But if there is one thing he would never do is leave his family. He would certainly be punished by his words later, he deserved it after all. But he couldn’t help the fact that he felt relieved after finally echoing his concerns and feelings to the rest… to his friends.

**Author's Note:**

> i kinda loved how this turned out! i hope u guys like it


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